WED. 12/21 – Phil Kline‘s Unsilent Night is a free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassettes, CDs and mp3s, and played through a roving swarm of boomboxes carried through city streets every December. People bring their own boomboxes and drift peacefully through a cloud of sound which is different from every listener’s perspective. Since 1992, this 45-minute work has grown into a worldwide annual communal event that has become an essential part of many winter holiday celebrations. The procession will end at the Chapel, followed by a party. The more participants the better, and all levels of audio fidelity are welcome (including MP3 players and phones). Details are still evolving.

DECEMBER 1—14
SCREWGUN
CURATED BY TIM BERNE
Screwgun was founded by Tim Berne and has since released many live recordings, string quartets, work by Berne’s bandmates and many others. Packaging is beautifully distinctive and designed by Steve Byram.

THE STONE WORKSHOP ORCHESTRA END OF YEAR CONCERT!
A Benefit for the Creative Music Studio
SHOWS AT 8PM AND 10PM
Ending their 8 month residency at The Stone, Karl Berger presents a special Monday Night Concert of Modern Orchestral Music featuring some very special guest soloists including John Zorn on sax.

MONDAYS AT THE STONE
THE STONE WILL BE CLOSED THE REMAINING MONDAYS IN DECEMBER FOR CLEANING AND PAINTING.
THE STONE MONDAYS WILL BEGIN AGAIN IN 2012 WITH ORCHESTRAL RESIDENCIES FEATURING BUTCH MORRIS, STEVE BERNSTEIN, JON MADOF, ON DAVIS AND MORE!

DECEMBER 15—31
LUAKA BOP
CURATED BY YALE EVELEV and MAT HALL
In 1977 I worked in a record store, The Soho Music Gallery, of which John Zorn was a customer and then coworker. After work on some evenings we would go over to a space John had with Wayne Horvitz underneath a pet store called Exotic Aquatics. Most nights there would be improv shows with friends for whoever was around which was mostly other improvisors who were also friends. Sometimes the shows would be more formal and have sort of an audience. There was a red headed Romanian guy who recorded the shows if John was playing. Often no matter who was playing an older couple would be in the audience, Irving and Stephanie Stone. The Stone is named after them and to me is John’s way of recreating a sense of the community that is one reason NYC is different from so many other places. No matter what sort of thing you are into there are quite a few other people here also into it.

None of this has anything to do with Luaka Bop, the label David Byrne started in 1988. The idea of Luaka Bop has always been to release pop music no matter in what language or no matter from what country. We are not a world music label we are just attempting to release music that has a pop aesthetic but gets there in a different way. But for this series we have taken off on John Zorn’s core concept of community and programmed musicians who are in our community, though not necessarily on the label itself. We have asked people to do something different then they would normally do and to use this opportunity to experiment and work with others in our greater community.

12/15 Thursday (JM)
8 and 10 pm
Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation and Elliot Bergman’s METAL TONGUES
Elliot Bergman (electric kalimba) Chad Taylor (drums) Ben Vida (synth, guitar)
For the 1964 Worlds Fair the Indonesian Government brought to New York City a complete Javanese Gamelan. When the fair ended in 1965 the gamelan was left at the Indonesian Consulate to the UN. In 1983 Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation was formed to study and perform traditional Javanese music on this collection of instruments. A chamber-sized group will perform a short invocation this and the next three evenings. No funny hats will be worn.

Metal Tongues is Elliot Bergman (electric kalimba). With Chad Taylor and Ben Vida. Elliot is in what was an Afrobeat ensemble called Nomo. Metal Tongues however is an electric Kalimba ensemble and begins our attempt at matching unrelated/related groups to the gamelan ensemble.

12/16 Friday
8 pm
Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation
Among the things you are not allowed to at The Stone is dance. Neil Fridd/The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! leads what might be the most fun, most involving, most sincere, most genuine, open armed dance band on the planet. He is guaranteed to leave you feeling invigorated and happy and at one with the world at the end of every Terror Pigeon performance. It’s all about you.

10 pm
Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation and Moss of Aura
Moss of Aura is Gerrit Welmers. In his spare time he is the keyboard player in a band we love called Future Islands. As Moss of Aura he is an electronic world creator. He does not perform as such often so please take this opportunity to be amazed.

12/17 Saturday (SK)
8 and 10 pm
Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation and Kelly Pratt Large Band
Kelly Pratt (trumpet) and band
Kelly Pratt has played in Beirut, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, and a host of other bands who want someone who can sing and play the shit out of a whole host of brass instruments. He is also the leader of a band on Luaka Bop called Bright Moments, whose record we have not yet released. In the early set this is what he says: “My idea for this is to play certain late compositions of John Coltrane, and give a little bit of a lecture on him between songs. Certainly more playing than talking, more like interesting tidbits between songs. It will be me on trumpet, Stuart Bogie on tenor, and Ryan Sawyer on drums. Stuart is in Superhuman Happiness and has played with Iron & Wine, TV on the Radio, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Scarlett Johansson and way too many others. Ryan, no shirker has played with or been in At the Drive-In, The Fiery Furnaces, Big Numbers, Galaxian, The Mekons, TV on the Radio, and Massive Attack.”

We signed Kelly Pratt’s band Bright Moments though they have hardly played out much live as all of them are often on the road with others, see above. However for this Bright Moments Trio, Kelly with a stripped down band will extrapolate songs of happiness and heartache.

12/18 Sunday (YT)
8 and 10 pm
Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation and Lucky Dragons
Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara
Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara are Lucky Dragons. They are world famous. We tried to sign them once but they told us to go to hell. That didn’t stop us from loving what they do. They make electronic music that connects on an organic and human level that is as unique as it is compelling. In this regard they have no peer.

Anand Wilder is in the band Yeasayer. Yeasayer makes music that is unlike any of the music on Luaka Bop; nonetheless they have toured with and are fans of many of our bands. Anand has no idea what he will be doing for his Stone experience. We have complete faith in him that it will be fantastic though.

12/21 Wednesday
8 and 10 pm
The Michael Graves Anderson Cinema
Mike Anderson is a filmmaker who creates real world animation. He has never done a show that was not in front of a camera. It’s worth to see how this goes, no?

12/22 Thursday
8 and 10 pm
Sleepy Doug Shaw—HIGHLIFE
Dough Shaw is a blues shaman. He is English and for some reason, outside of the American South, the English have a corner on the Blues shaman thing. He plays guitar and performs also on harmonium and loops. Chants, field hollars, and guitar often in a palm wine style. And if you don’t know what that is come and find out, even if you do know.

Friday December 23
Luaka Bop Presents Dublab Presents
In the mid 1990’s Luaka Bop was based in David Byrne’s house in the West Village. We thought it would be a neat idea to start a pirate radio in the basement with an antenna on the roof broadcasting to the 20 block radius you were then allowed. Nowadays of course… Dublab is one of the best internet radio stations out there. Not only that they are amazing folks. We are honored to give over this day of our series and have them program it.

12/23 Friday
8 pm
Roberto Carlos Lange
Roberto Carlos Lange is a composer and sound artist born in South Florida and is the son of Ecuadorean immigrants. Growing up he was surrounded by tropical heat and hurricanes that represented the rich colors of sound and people living in South Florida. The sound of bass and late-night “peñas” in and around his house carved a deep foundation into his interest for sound and the things producing them. A visual and sonic artist, his Helado Negro project is particularly active at the moment.

10 pm
The Present
The Presant is lead by Rusty Samtos Rusty is a Record producer and Singer-songwriter based in New York City. He is known for producing, Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Born Ruffians’ Owen Pallett’s and others.

In summer of 2007, he started another recording project with his friend Mina, which eventually let to Mina, Santos and Lee founding the band The Present in April 2008. They released their debut World I See in following June on Lo Recordings and the Japanese label Easel Records. According to Santos, the album was entirely written and recorded in Stream-of-consciousness-style. In June they released the follow-up The Way We Are. http://www.myspace.com/thepresentnewyork

12/27 Tuesday
8 and 10 pm
Steve Marion 3 Live Crew
Steve Marion (guitar) Nat Baldwin (bass) Zach Hill (drums)
Steve Marion is the guitar handling multi-instrumentalist bandleader and namesake of Delicate Steve. An unassuming architect of incredible melody, Steve ambled out of pastoral Sussex County, NJ nearly two years ago, shook off the “next big thing” baggage, and hit the road behind Delicate Steve’s acclaimed debut Wondervisions. To be joined by a murderer’s row of friends and collaborators.

12/29 Thursday
8 and 10 pm
Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang
Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang are friends of ours. Not only that we think the music they have invented part Bubu music from Sierra Leone and part Miles Davis electric period jam is the next step heralding the natural outgrowth of the 21st Century mixture of information and funk.

12/30 Friday (MM)
8 and 10 pm
ANNUAL END OF THE YEAR IMPROV PARTY—A STONE BENEFIT
John Zorn (sax) and many special guests.
Come down and support the Stone! TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS

12/31 Saturday (MM)
8 pm
ANNUAL END OF THE YEAR IMPROV PARTY—A STONE BENEFIT
John Zorn (sax) and many special guests!
Come down and bring in the NEW YEAR with our annual STONE rent party! TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS